At 11:00am Claire Cameron Band acoustic set up at Out of The Woodson Water Lane to serenade customers as they came in for their morning coffee.

It went down well with people giving generously for their musical accompaniment to their coffee break! Miranda Versus The Crok sang a rousing punk folk solo set as well then we moved on to Out of The Woods at Granary Wharf to treat the late lunch crowd to some live music there.

Miranda Versus The Crok

By now carrying the piano and guitars (as well as the heavier by the minute collection tub) was making us thirsty so our trusty trio (Pete Nash, Claire, Miranda) made our way to The Midnight Bellon Water Lane, for refreshment and to set up for the evening fundraiser.

As Pete Nash and Callum (The Midnight Bell’s groovy Assistant Manager) set up the PA, Bean (Manager extraordinaire at The Midnight Bell), Miranda and I strung up multicoloured bunting and arranged Children in Need balloons artfully around the pub.

Then the cakes and baked goods began to arrive along with Jon from Out of the Woods. We had quite a spread to sell for the great bake off! Big thank yous have to go to all who contributed something to sell! Fancie Cupcakes gave a beautiful box of sumptuous cupcakes which made a perfect raffle prize, Brown & Blond gave their signature chocolate brownies which were a real hit and Fayre by Alley brought fantastic Nanaimo Bars which are so rich and delicious people flocked to get their hands on one!

Thanks also to the team at Bloom Agency who held a lunchtime cake sale and donated cakes to the bake off too (Including an awesome Oreo cake and Sara’s chocolate and vanilla cake!) plus Fiona & Rosie from Simple Usability and the team at Round Foundry Media Centre contributed so thanks to them as well!

I must mention Sara Galbiati properly at this point, who was the one who suggested baking for Children In Need in the first place, and this was the idea which started the ball rolling! Plus Sara’s chocolate and vanilla cake was definitely a show stopper! Big thank yous also to Bloom Agency’s Stu Arundel and Glen Cartwright for their fabulous poster designs- they definitely gave the event it’s identity brilliantly!

As well as the bake off we had a raffle with prizes including boxes of beer worth £70 donated by The Midnight Bell, the Fancie Cupcakes, a gorgeous Out of The Woods hamper and a meal at The Midnight Bell.

6:00pm saw the Giant Bake Off come into being with a brilliant opening set from March of Dimes. This kicked off the evening in style, and it was great to follow them with a Claire Cameron Band acoustic set, which our drummer Jim joined us for on Conga Drums! Miranda Versus The Crok went down a storm with a stonking acoustic set andTag Team Preacherclosed the proceedings with musical flair after we’d announced the raffle prizes.

With barely any cakes or baked goodies left, a sold out raffle and an empty keg of Pudsey Beer (Very kindly donated byThe Leeds Brewerywith all proceeds from the beer going straight into the fundraising) the Giant Musical Bake Off was a resounding success and raised a grand total of £592.74 for Children In Need!!!!

Thank you so much to everyone involved- it was great fun for a great cause well done!